‘Unfortunate’ error brings court trial to a dramatic end
TRIAL OF MALLOW WOMAN CHARGED WITH CARELESS DRIVING CAUSINGDEATHCOLLAPSESASJURYQUERIESPROSECUTIONEXHIBIT
AN ‘unfortunate faux pas’ by the prosecution is how a defence solicitor described the collapse of a trial for careless driving causing death last week.
The defendant, Sarah O’Connell, will have to stand trial all over again and her solicitor, Padraig O’Connell, said what had happened to cause the collapse of the trail was ‘an unfortunate faux pas’.
The trial of the 24-year old woman for careless driving causing the death of her younger friend Caitlin Taylor over three years ago on the Cork– Kerry border collapsed dramatically after the jury received a prosecution exhibit document, part of which they should not have seen.
At 2.40pm on Thursday afternoon, trial judge Thomas E O’Donnell recalled the jury of five men and seven women who had been sworn in on Tuesday. The judge apologised to them but said he had no choice but to discharge them after an application by the defence.
The trial of the mother-of-one was in its third day on Thursday, the prosecution had closed its case and closing speeches from the prosecution and defence were heard on Wednesday.
Judge Thomas O’Donnell charged the jury on Thursday morning, summing up the evidence and speaking about the distinction between dangerous driving and the lesser charge of driving without due care, and which the jury had to deliberate on.
The jurors were handed the exhibits in the case, including statements and a memo of a garda interview with the accused. They were sent out to begin their deliberations at 11.40 am.
After just over an hour of deliberation, at 12.43pm, the jury returned asking for clarification on whether a momentary lapse of concentration could amount to careless driving.
Judge O’Donnell advised them on this and on the case law pertaining to it, and told them they were the arbiters of the facts. The jury was sent to lunch under guard.
The foreman of the jury asked the judge about a prosecution exhibit, a memo of an interview, which he said the jury had received and parts of which had been scribbled out.
The 12 jurors were sent to their room and, after consultation between the legal teams, Senior Counsel Mark Nicholas, for the defence (assisted by barrister Katie O’Connell and instructed by solicitor Eimear Griffin) told Judge O’Donnell he was applying for a discharge of the jury.
There was a brief discussion in front of the judge, but ex jury, about the defence application.
At 2.40pm the jurors were recalled and Judge O’Donnell said he wished to speak to them, “in respect of the matter regarding the memo of interview and the parts scribbled out”.
“From time to time there’s agreement between the defence and the prosecution on matters,” the judge said. It had been agreed that a section of the memo should go out and the jurors had been given the edited document. Unfortunately, they had also been given an item they should not have been given, the judge said, referring to the scribbled on or unedited document which had also been included in the exhibits.
“The defence has made an application to discharge the jury,” the judge said.
“This has happened and I am sorry about that, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” Judge O’Donnell said.
He thanked the jurors and excused them from jury service for a period of five years, before formally discharging them.
Accused woman Sarah O’Connell was told she could stand down and she left the dock to join her grandfather and mother.
Sarah O’Connell of Sean Moylan Park, Mallow, had pleaded not guilty to the charge of careless driving causing the death of Caitlin Taylor, aged 14, of Gouldshill, Mallow at Knockeenahone, Scartaglen on June 15, 2014. The matter has been put back to the call over list of January 15 next at the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee to fix a date for a new trial and Ms O’Connell has been remanded on continuing bail.